Get Hard

When multimillionaire James King (Will Ferrell) is convicted for fraudulent payments and embezzlement he is sent to the most dangerous prison in the US, San Quentin. Under the assumption that a third of black people have been to prison, James enlists the help of Darnell (Kevin Hart) to toughen him up before his 10 year prison sentence so he doesn't become somebody's bitch.

Much has been made of the content within Get Hard in regards to its alleged racism and homophobia, though accusations of racism were less prevalent within the media because they are mostly unfounded. For example, The Guardian have written five or six articles on the film lamenting the ‘toxic attitude’ towards homosexuality because Get Hard insinuates that gay sex is disgusting (LGBT groups have also had a say). If I was going to judge my audience as a sample of the general audience as whole I would conclude that the general cinema going audience really don't care about the apparent negative attitudes in the film, they did generally seem to have a good time.

The central plot (training to avoid prison rape) is already treading well beyond the line of what is deemed politically correct, so naturally the film is going to exclude those who are more politically correct minded. Anyway, the film isn't particularly clever or inventive even when the comedy is very much focused on racial and sexuality themes and these moments are years out of date anyway. The film is much better and much funnier when it avoids the themes of homosexuality, as it does descend into casual homophobia (the scene in the toilet cubicle is most questionable), and even when the film does avoid such themes the film it is lazy in much of its gross out comedy.

Get Hard is made watchable by the effective chemistry between the two stars, Kevin Hart (who is the better of the two) and Will Ferrell. When the film requires these two to build an effective chemistry, mock racial issues and also demands Darnell to train James not to be somebody's bitch the film moves along much quicker (the fake prison courtyard scene does display Kevin Hart at least has some talent). Whilst the performances of the main stars are good, Alison Bree (of Community) gets stuck with the most thankless role imaginable.

Get Hard is an OK comedy, the homophobia may be an issue for some and the story becomes flaccid (sorry) the longer the film goes on as many of the gross out jokes becomes tiresome but Get Hard is mostly enjoyable thanks to Kevin Hart’s and Will Ferrell’s effective chemistry.

2.5/5